Wrist watch strap



Au 28, 1945. J. A. TRAUM WRIST WATCH STRAP Filed Aug. 18,1943

INVEN'I'OR. Juuus A. 75am ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 28, 1945 WRIST WATCH STRAP j Julius A. Traum, New York, N. Y.

This invention relates to wrist watch straps, and more particular1y,'.to a wrist. watch strap which is continuous from buckle end to tongue end.- Straps of this nature are hereinafter referredhtoias one-section strapsto distinguish the ssamestfrom wrist watch straps consisting of separate buckle. andtongue sectionseach having a pintle engaging eye.

A one-section strapisthreaded between the pintles and wristwatch case on both sides of a watch, the portion of the strap between the pintles lying against the back, of the watch casewhe-reit. is out of sight in use. Since one-section straps are not provided with pintle engaging eyes, the watch shifts. and when taken off and dangled from the buckle end may slip ofi 'the. strap. Various expedients have been proposed to remedy. these defects,; but. they have all involved complicated,

clumsy and expensive constructions which were v pintle snugly received betweentheseprojections so. difficultto vuse that they have not met with favor. U

Accordingly. it is an object of my invention .to provide aone-sectionwrist watch strap-having improved means for detachably fastening. a wrist.

watch thereon, which means-shall comprise but few and simple-parts and be inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use.

Otherobjects ofthisinvention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features, of construction; combination of elements,

and arrangement of parts which will'be exemplifled in the construction hereinafter described, and

of which the-scope of: application will be indicated in .the claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one. of the various possible, embodiments of this invention Fig. 1 is-a perspective view of a wrist watch to which there is secureda, one-section wrist watch strap embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlargedfragmentary longitudinal sectional viewthrough a lateral edge of the watch andis illustrative of the operation of the fastening means preventing the wrist watch from shifting along the strap;

Fig. 3 is a highly enlarged transverse section of the second projection of the fastening means;

Figsgl and5 are views, similar to 2 which show successive. steps in; fastening the strap to a wrist watch; and I p Fig. 6 is,a view, also similar to Fig. 2, which shows the operation ofthe fastening means in Pre n ng the wat h em el eefi h n the strap is dangled from its buckle.

of difi'erent diameters,

.7 Application August 18, 1943, Serial No, 499.036

' 3 Claims. (01124-4) In accordance with the present invention I prov vide along the lengthof'a one section-strap aseries of spaced projections :whose. height progressively inoreasestoward :the buckle endof the strap. These projections, or the strap;-or both,1.are-resilient and their graded heights .sdzproportioned that when the strap .is threaded through the, pas sageway between a .pintleiand watch case at least one projection can be forced or squeezed through;

said passage-way, the. height; of this projectionbeingsuch-that it and the thickness of the strip are together greater than the widthof said passageway. The height ofth-enext succeeding projection is such that it and the thickness --of the straptogether are so great that/the projection :cannot besqueezed through the -passageway, With the which there is secured by suitabl means such as lugs |4, a pair of parallel pi-ntles;l6. Each pintle is spaced away from an adjacent portionpf the watchcase to provide an elongatednarrow passageway I8 whose width varies in different watches and even inthesamewatch with. pintles The wrist watch strap is made of a flexible material such as ate-xtile fabri leather or. metal cloth. I In the illustrated example, said strapconsists of a single fabric strip which is. centrally folded transverselyof; its longitudinal axis and doubled back upon. itself to provide an inner layer 22 which faces the pintl'es andan-cuter or exposed layer 2-.4, said layers being, secured to each other by a line of peripheral stitching 25. This stitching terminates short of the folded strap. and

to provide a. loop ZB-inwhich there. is caught the chape 30 of a buckle 32. Thetonguefldof said buckla-whichis rotatably. mounted on the chape threading the pointed tongue endi' rom front to back between-onepi'ntle-and the watch case, crossing the strap over the back oithe watch and then threading the tongue end of the strap from back to front between the other pintle and the watch case.

Pursuant to the instant invention, the surface of the strap facing the pintles is provided near its center with a series of projections 38, 40, 42 and 44 of different heights, each-of which comprises a ridge lying transversely of the longitudinal axis of the strap. The ridge 38 closest to the tongue end of the strap is the lowest, the next ridge 4!! is slightly higher, the following ridge 42 still higher, and the last ridge 44 the highest, The ridges are resilient, that is, after being deformed under pressure they will spring back to approximately their original shape. Alternatively or additionalthrough. However, the third ridge'42 is of such height that it will not freely pass through said passageway but can be forced through when pulled in the direction of the arrow A, the ridge being distorted during passage as shown in Fig. 4. The next succeeding ridge 44 is of such height that it cannot be squeezed through the passageway even when considerable force is applied in the same direction (see arrow A in Fig. 5). The strap is then crossed over the back of the case and threaded, back to front, through the passageway between the other pintle and case. Now, if

' the strap should dangle from the buckle end, as I shown in Fig. 6, the weight of the watch would ly the strap may be resilient; as when made of leather or fabric. These resilient qualities permit the over-all height of the strap 'and all ridges to be reduced under pressure and to resume their original dimensions upon release of pressure. This action will hereinafter be referred to as a resilient. depressibility of the ridges.

The ridges 38'44 may be formed in any suitablerfashi'on, as by a plurality of overlying crossing layersof' threads on the surface of the strip facing the pintles. The first layer of the ridge 40 whose construction is illustrated in Fig. 3 consists of a series of parallel juxtaposed thread loops 46 on the fabric. layer 22 which run transversely of the longitudinal axis of the strap.

and are heldin position by similarly disposed thread loops 48 beneath said layer, the ends of the loops 38,:40 being interlocked in a manner wellknown in the sewing art. Across the layer of loops 46 are stitched-another layer of parallel juxtaposed threads'loops 50 which are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strap 20 and are sho'rter than the loops 46. This latter layer of loops is held in'position by alayer of thread loops 52 beneath the loops 48, the ends of the loops 50, 52 being likewise interlocked. The ridge 40 is further built up by two more layers of thread loops 54, 56 similar to the loops 46, 50 and held in position by the concealed layers of thread loops 58, 50. It will be appreciated that by employing more or-less layers of transversely and longitudinally disposed loops the height of the ridge can be varied at will. It will be noted that the thread loops disposed above the layer 22 are stitched under a 'greater degree of tension-than the'thread loops b'eneathsaid layer so asto obtain a compact-resilient mass above said layer,

the loops beneath the layer-being primarily employed to hold theupper loops in position.

It will be understood that the foregoing typical construction of the ridges is given by way of example only and that in lieu thereof there may be employed equivalent constructions such as pieces of felt or rubber secured aboveor below the layer 22, or thread'loops blind stitched into the surface of the strap facing the pintles if the strap consists of but a single layer.

The spacing between adjacent ridges should be suificient to permit a pintle of as large a diameter as is likely to be found on a wrist watch to lie snugly between the ridges; The length and-width of the ridges are governed by considerations of taste, ornamentation and ease of application.

To attach the strap to the wrist watch the tongue end of the strap is threaded, front to back, through-a passageway l8 between one of the pintles and the watch case with the ridged surface facing the pintlej This passageway in the illustrated watch is sufliciently wide to permitthe. first and second ridges 38, 40 to easily slide there be insufficient to force the ridge 42 back through thepassageway between said first pintle and case so that the watch is'efiectively anchored on the strap. As shown in. Fig. 2, there will be no tendency' for the watch case to shift along the strap since the two ridges 42, 44 disposed to either side of the pintle prohibit such movement.

When the strap 20 is attached in similar fashion to a wrist watch having a narrower passageway between its pintles and case it may only be possible to force the first two ridges 38, 40 through such passageway but not the ridge 42 so that in,-

such case the watch will be anchored between ridges 42, 40.

Although in the illustrated embodiment of the invention I have shown four ridges, it will be appreciated that this number may be varied and more or less ridges employed.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device and method for making the same in which the several objects of this invention are achieved,-

and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth-or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not-inalimiting sense. 1

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

' 1. A one-section wrist watch strap comprising an elongated band whose ends are adapted to be detachably attached to each other, and means intermediate the ends of said strap for detachably attaching the strap to a wrist watch having a pintle, said last named means comprising a plurality of resiliently depressible projections of graded heights spaced longitudinally of and integral with said strap, the highest of said projections being nearest one end of said strap and the lowest nearest the opposite end of said strap and the difference in heights between successive projections beingsuch that one projection can be squeezed through a space through which the next succeeding projection cannot'be squeezed, whereby when the strap is threaded through the space between the pintle and case of a wrist watch and successive projections squeezed through such space until a projection is reached which cannot be squeezed therethrough, the watch will not be able to accidentally slip off the strap or shift relative thereto. I

2. A one-section wrist watch strap comprising an elongated band having a buckle at one end and a tongue at the other end, said buckle and tongue being adapted to be detachably attached to each other, and means intermediate the endsof said strap for detachably attaching'the-stra'p' to a wrist watch having a pintle, aid last named means comprising a plurality of resiliently depressible projections of graded heights spaced longitudinally of and integral with said strap, the highest of said projections/being nearest the buckle end of said strap and the lowest nearest 6 the tongue end of said strap and the difierence in heights between successive projections being such that one projection can be squeezed through a space through which the next succeeding projection cannot be squeezed, whereby when the strap is threaded, tongue end first, through the space between the pintle and case of a wrist watch ciently far to snugly receive a watch pintle of 10 large diameter.

JULiUs A. TRAUM. 

